The Irish Whiskey Association (IWA) has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission, on appeal, for the development of twelve Irish whiskey maturation warehouses at Moyvore, Co. Westmeath.

The proposed facility, which will be developed by Vault Storage Limited, will have the capacity to hold up to 200,000 casks of whiskey in maturation.

A "Positive Decision"

Head of the IWA William Lavelle commented, "There can be no Irish whiskey without maturation on the island of Ireland. Earlier this year, we were looking at a potential future shortage of maturation warehouse capacity. Thankfully, this positive decision from An Bord Pleanála, coupled with recent grants of planning permission for maturation warehousing in both Co. Cavan and Co Antrim, means the Irish whiskey industry can be assured that this threatened bottleneck in the production process will be avoided.

"The decision by Bord Pleanála sets an important precedent which should provide clarity to local authorities when they come to assess future planning applications for maturational warehousing."